Rep. Alan Grayson with 7-point lead in Senate race against former Republican Patrick Murphy. Photo by Brook Hines.

Florida Atlantic University released a new statewide poll conducted by the College of Business showing that Rep. Alan Grayson holds a convincing 7-point lead over New Dem primary challenger Patrick Murphy.

When I first heard these poll numbers on Nicole Sandler’s “Radio Or Not” show* today it was one of those blink twice and check if you heard right moments. It simply seemed unlikely that Grayson would have a 7-point lead after months of negative press generated by the Patrick Murphy campaign throwing everything including the kitchen sink at him, while the former South Florida Republican has endured virtually no critical attention from the media.

This consistent 6- to 7-point lead has been shown by PPP and St. Pete Polls, despite the constant churn of oppo fed to the mainstream political press, who seemed to become an arm of the Patrick Murphy campaign for a while there. No hit was too obscure to report on.

To be sure, Grayson is responsible for his own unforced errors that come in form of shitting robots, but this doesn’t seem to bother primary voters, according to this new poll.

With FAU stating the obvious, that Alan Grayson is the “early front runner” for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat, maybe our political scribes will begin to understand that what’s relevant to Florida voters isn’t the same as what’s relevant to Florida’s donor class.

Especially as Marco Rubio crashes and burns on the national stage, Democrats are paying attention to this race, and they seem to be excited for a progressive champion with a national reputation for standing up to Wall Street—as opposed to a new comer to the Democratic Party who is funded by Wall Street.

As his campaign’s political director Mario Piscatella said in their press release, “[Alan Grayson’s] message of justice, equality and peace is not something new that Congressman Grayson decided to embrace to get elected. He’s been fighting these good fights for years. And Democrats in Florida know and trust that about him.”

This consistency in performance appears to be the key to Grayson’s consistency in polling numbers. The opposition hasn’t put a dent in them yet, so I’d look for this race to continue to heat up as temperatures rise this spring. There’s been no negative press on Patrick Murphy in mainstream venues thus far, and that will likely come to an end at some point.

*Use the link to Radio or Not, to listen to Nicole Sandler’s interview of Tim Canova who is challenging Debbie Wasserman Schultz in District 23.

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Brook Hines is a writer, photographer, activist and former alt-weekly publisher, as well as an award-winning advertising creative with more than 20 years’ experience crafting strategy for clients ranging from healthcare companies to museums. She’s the Senior Political Correspondent for Progressive News Network (tune this Sunday at 7 pm or download the podcast anytime), and the Communications Chair for the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida. All opinions offered here are her own, delivered from the perspective of social theory, cultural criticism, and near constant stream of caffeine. Political and media analysis through a Progressive lens. Read all of Brook’s articles here. Check out brookhines.com.